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EvoLab

Future work:

There are a number of EvoLab models currently under development, specifically models demonstrating the costs and benefits of phenotypic plasticity, the tension between natural and sexual selection in guppies, and the emergence of variation in sickle cell gene frequencies based on proximity to malaria carrying regions.

We also have plans for future models regarding the evolution of ant colonies, kin selection, the dynamics of animal breeding, the advantages of sexual reproduction for viral immunity, and the emergence of gaps in the fossil record for species that adapt over time.

We also intend to further leverage HubNet technology to allow multiple students to all participate in the same learning event.  We already have one model where two  groups of students compete as predators and mates in a guppy environment.  We are planning similar types of participatory environments where students can interbreed virtual pets.

Finally, we also intend to develop instructional materials that will use these models.  We envision such materials as an ideal foundation to the eventual development of middle school and high school science units which can be very effective at helping students:

• connect and deepen their understanding of mechanisms, models and the natural world.
• apply their knowledge of evolution, selection, and adaptation to conduct meaningful inquiry into important relationships (e.g. between individuals and population, between changes across generations and changes across geologic time scales, and between probability of mutations and emergent patterns in adaptations.)
• extend their thinking to facilitate their own inquiry, to explore more complex relationships between multiple factors that may influence evolution, and to reflect on their own scientific world view and the nature of science.